We just came through I-40 from Memphis on the way back to Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is much better now except for a few miles of rough road going West. Truck traffic is very heavy weekdays. Much of this highway has been rebuilt. It is also good to the Arkansas/Oklahoma state line. Hwy 70 parallels I-40 from Little Rock to Memphis if you want to get off for a few miles.

1971 27' Overlander
Waiting to Escape....
, Somewhere between sanity and insanity ... on the brink of both.

Join Date: Jul 2010

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Has anyone been on I-40 from the Arkansas state line to OKC recently? We know that it's bad through OKC but not east of it. It's 465 miles to Fort Smith from OKC and that is a lot of miles of KA-Thunk.....

Lastly, I have allotted about 30 hours of actual driving time (can be increased if needed) for what google says should take about 22 hours max. We have never taken the A/S on a trip of over 6 hours so is there any advice? Our first multiple state run...I might be a bit nervous....

Trip planning: bounded by daylight hours and the need [requirement] to get out of the vehicle every two hours (whether 15-minutes to stretch, etc, or to prepare & consume a meal); and recognition of declining attention/skills through the day. The need to set a pace, in other words, that remains viable dependent upon the rig, the road and the load (the details of each, therein).

Google estimates are for solo cars (not even pickup trucks due to poor handling/braking), so divide miles by travel speed (I use 55-58 mph for Interstate; 47 mph for roads that include small towns; one can use 50 mph to include brief stops) and take into account, especially, weather and traffic. Divide the Google estimate to see what they have calculated, and if above 60-mph for all but the longest, non-mountainous stretches, deduct some mph.

450-600 miles is a long day when one is aware of skill/attention degradation towards the end of the day. After six hours of driving no one is too sharp anymore, professional driver or not. As a rule of thumb: start early and end early so as to use daylight to maximum advantage. And, in the event of problems, the earlier in the day, the better (for solution).

To make this short, if I anticipate having to purchase fuel I plan that stop in advance (use Google Street View to make sure the fuel island presents no problems), and I scout the rest areas (or other) to know, also in advance, the Exit Marker number.

Break the travel down into steps: 150-miles here, 110-miles there, and have the "markers" at hand on a slip of paper. The exercise is simple enough, though tedious the first few times if one wishes to be thorough. As one goes along one finds additional route/trip planning tools (construction reports, rush hour estimates, etc) available on-line.

Safe travel isn't about, necessarily, a slow speed and an overall short distance, but it is about a framework that accommodates a steady pace, a pace which leaves the drivers attention focused on immediate circumstances versus decisions on where (and why) to stop. The pleasures of negotiating the rig up and down the roads are left free of externalities by this approach.

1971 27' Overlander
Waiting to Escape....
, Somewhere between sanity and insanity ... on the brink of both.

Join Date: Jul 2010

Posts: 1,791

I like your approach and I sent that website to DH to peruse. As I already have a spreadsheet calculating the running total of the mileage (part of my route planning), I think I'll check out your fuel street view idea. DH likes to use the big truck stops (Love's, Flying J, etc) for stopping even without the A/S.

The 50-55 mph sounds like a good estimation for figuring out overall driving time. We also have to figure several 30 minute stops for the dogs everyday which includes unhitching.

Has anyone been on I-40 from the Arkansas state line to OKC recently? We know that it's bad through OKC but not east of it. It's 465 miles to Fort Smith from OKC and that is a lot of miles of KA-Thunk.....

I was on I-40 from Memphis to OKC and back at the end of September and it was a complete mess. The pot holes and washboarding in the road made it a pain in the posterior. The road beat up my truck and my Safari pretty bad. Has it changed since September?

1971 27' Overlander
Waiting to Escape....
, Somewhere between sanity and insanity ... on the brink of both.

Join Date: Jul 2010

Posts: 1,791

Doubtful

Quote:

Originally Posted by pickerdd

I was on I-40 from Memphis to OKC and back at the end of September and it was a complete mess. The pot holes and washboarding in the road made it a pain in the posterior. The road beat up my truck and my Safari pretty bad. Has it changed since September?

Very doubtful that it's changed and certainly not enough of it. Basically around 180 miles of Ka-Thunk.....sounds like a good section to avoid, which makes trip planning pretty easy. Say hello to the Lone-Star State.....

will be pulling from memphis to kerrville texas by way of i40 to little rock then i30 to dallas area, within the next week(weather permitting).
How rough is I 40 from memphis to little rock? Some say it's ok some say it stinks. Could someone who has towed recently let us know if it is smooth enough to pull you expensive trailer and truck on that part of I4o with out shaking every thing apart like in you do in Oklahoma.

will be pulling from memphis to kerrville texas by way of i40 to little rock then i30 to dallas area, within the next week(weather permitting).
How rough is I 40 from memphis to little rock? Some say it's ok some say it stinks. Could someone who has towed recently let us know if it is smooth enough to pull you expensive trailer and truck on that part of I4o with out shaking every thing apart like in you do in Oklahoma.

thanks in advance

I just traveled that route (Memphis-Little Rock-Oklahoma City-Amarillo) a couple of days ago. Soon after you get out of Memphis the road gets very rough for 40-50 miles. I think it was a combination of the washboard effect and the little potholes that made this route stand out. The passing lane was a little bit smoother. It was late at night and there wasn't much traffic, so I kept an eye on the mirrors and used the passing lane whenever it wasn't occupied.

Although, in shorter stretches, this occurred in several locations through Arkansas. Unless conditions change, I'll never drive that road again. There were several rough patches in and near Oklahoma City, but didn't compare to Arkansas. The road from the Oklahoma border to Amarillo, TX was rather smooth by comparison.

Avoiding all those major metro areas more than makes up for the slightly longer length. I'd rather drive 40 any day over any portion of 35 south of OKC; IMO, that's bad to worse.

This route takes you to Interstate 20 via Homer, LA, then east a few miles to Greenwood (just W of Shreveport). You could also run 61 south from Memphis and cross the River at Greenville and use 82 to take you to Eldorado & Homer, thence the rest of the way via 79.

Personally, I'd pick up 84 at Palestine, TX and run it west to Goldthwaite and 16 south to Kerrville.

1971 27' Overlander
Waiting to Escape....
, Somewhere between sanity and insanity ... on the brink of both.

Join Date: Jul 2010

Posts: 1,791

Some of that stretch of I-35 south of OKC has been resurfaced, but their are some areas that have not, some that are still being worked on. No where near as bad as I-40. We take that route sometimes to the In-Laws.